Wednesday AM   

This course examines the issues confronting participatory democracy. How have the problems developed and what can be done to save our democracy. Repeat in-person course with new content.  Format includes lecture and discussion

Is humanity cursed, as Thomas Hobbes lamented, to an anarchic “state of nature” that is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short?” Perhaps our prospective doom is not as likely as is widely supposed. Robert Axelrod, in his newly updated classic, The Evolution of Cooperation, begins with the provocative question: “Under what conditions will cooperation emerge in a world of egoists without central authority?” Such conditions do exist. Axelrod’s description of them is straightforward, optimistic, and amazing in practice. Is this hopeful claim an exaggeration? Join us for this class and see for yourself.

New remote course. Format includes lecture and discussion.

SUGGESTED BOOK: The Evolution of Cooperation, Robert Axelrod, ISBN 9781541606845. Recommended book (paperback) will be released May 6, 2025. Amazon is taking pre-orders for shipping on the release date.

We will gather and pick a spot in the Portland environs to sit and paint. It might be the Old Port, a glorious old cemetery, or a townhouse. We will work in situ for most of the allotted time, stopping at the end to review our work as a group. I will show examples of other artists who have worked this way like Maurice Utrillo and Vincent van Gogh to try and discover what made their visions sing.
New in-person course. Format includes hands on learning.

SUGGESTED MATERIALS: Drawing paper 12 x 16 inches up to 16 x 20 inches, water colors, water color pencils, drawing pencils 2H-5B, kneaded eraser. Would suggest Artists & Craftsman Supply for supplies.